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MY ANALYSIS OF DES: LOOKING AT EXAMPLES FROM BOND PLAYS is lying on the floor. There is a clear development in the motif of the tool of blinding as well. While in the first scene we only hear that it was done with a scissors, in the second scene Liz actually brings ina pair of scissors and holds it over Dan’s eyes. She also makes an explicit connection between the scissors and the needle she uses to take drugs with the word ‘stab’ that she uses in reference to both. In the end of the third scene Dan wants to stab Richard’s eyes out with his shoe, he even stands above Richard, reusing and developing this motif by becoming the tool himself. There is also a development in how the sheet is used: in the first panel to make a bed, but then torn to apply as a bandage, the shreds are also used by Liz to hang herself, and Dan dances and cries with the bits left in the room, not knowing that his mother is hanging in the next room. Finally, a heap of shredded sheet is exposed as Dan overturns the chaise-longue and uses bits of sheet to tie Richard down. The constant change in their use offers the possibility of regular re-evaluation of their value and meaning for the audience. The final moment of the play is also a clear apex in the use of the space and furniture, the whole room becomes a complete mess by the end of the scene and the way the window is used by Dan is also different from how it was used before, as it is the first time anyone really looks out into the streets according to the stage directions. I have brought these examples to underline that DEs are not random happenings but are a series of linked moments that are developments of previous actions, situations and ideas. I will analyse now another DE from a different Bond play and I will also look at how the DE can be created in performance further on. This moment is from a play that I have referred to before, The Children, written for a group of young people and two adult actors. First a short synopsis of the play: it starts with Joe bringing on a stuffed puppet half his size who is dressed in school uniform just like the boy. Joe talks to the puppet, at times explaining things, at other points blaming him for his troubles, and finally telling him that he is going to kill him. Joe stones the puppet with bricks that he finds at the abandoned lot beside the railway line, but finally takes the puppet out with himself. In the next scene his mother asks him to burn down the house with the mauve door on the ‘new estate’, but she is not ready to give an explanation about why she asks him to do it. Joe tells his friends about his mother’s request, but just when they are discussing how a house can be burned down, another child, a stranger enters. It turns out that he is from the new estate and the kids drive him away, and to get back at them he starts chucking stones at the group. As the children panic about being blamed if the house is set on fire Joe brings the puppet and some bricks back and asks the group to vow to keep the secret by throwing a brick at the puppet. 429 4129 Bond: The Children. + 109 +
